Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Obesity in early childhood and working in pre-school settings
( FMS ) in early childhood, has a positive effect on
involvement in physical activity such as organized
sports later in life. 57 And a positive reinforcer for
increasing participation in physical activity has been
shown to be successful motor performance. 58
To ensure that young children participate sufficiently,
physical activities need to be well integrated
into children ’ s daily routines. 59 The activities should
promote the necessary skills to facilitate enjoyment
and enable children to develop an appreciation of
physical movement, which will most likely track
through adolescence and into adulthood. One way to
ensure that children in day care settings engage in
adequate physical activity is to add structured play to
their daily program as well as providing more time for
free play in environments which facilitate physical
activity. 60
Physical i nactivity
The development of childhood obesity is complicated
and multi - factorial, however, screen time has been
identified as an independent modifiable risk factor for
the development of childhood obesity, 61 – 65 with high
amounts of screen time associated with less physical
61,63 – 65
activity and higher child BMI.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
no television viewing for children under the age of 2
years, and that children older than 2 years watch no
more than 1 – 2 hours of TV and video per day. 66,67
It has been shown that preschoolers who watch more
than 3 hours of TV/day are 50% more likely to become
obese than children who watch